Wooden carboy crate



July 3, 1951 J. R. WALLACE WOODEN CARBOY CRATE Filed Sept. 13, 1948Zinnentor attorneg 3 E 2 2 a m m B Y 2 4 II... m in? v R s u m w M M a ma 2 8 4 T m \\H//\3 m/alu 3 QUV a G. \J a F 2 T 2 a W \5 k.

Patented July 3, 1951 UNITED WOODEN CARBOY CRATE James R. Wallace,Lansing, Mich., assignor to Carrier-Stephens Company, Lansing, Mich., a

corporation of Michigan Application September 13, 1948, Serial No.49,061

2 Claims. 217-1) This invention relates in general to carboy crates andmore particularly to a type thereof which is fabricated from laminatedwood.

Among the many problems encountered in the transportation of large glassbottles, such as carboy bottles, filled with liquid is the need for acarboy crate which is lighter, sturdier, less expensive and smaller thancrates presently in use for transporting two or more bottles.

Carboy bottles, which are usually of one gallon capacity or more, arenot ordinarily constructed to resist rough treatment or support excessweight. Therefore, the carboy crate, in which the bottle is transported,must be strong enough to resist c0mpressi0n independently. Variousmaterials such as wood and metal have been used to make carboy crates,but such crates have been found to be either frail, cumbersome, heavy orincapable of protecting the bottles adequately against breakage.

Accordingly, a primary object of this invention is to provide a carboycrate which is lighter, sturdier, smaller and affords greater protectionto bottles which it contains than other presently known types of cratesfor a similar purpose.

Other objects and purposes of this invention will become apparent topersons familiar with this type of equipment upon referring to theaccompanying drawings and upon reading the following specification.

In order to meet the above mentioned objects and purposes I haveprovided a laminated or plywood box having a removable top and aremovable segregator.

For illustrations of a preferred embodiment of the invention, attentionis directed to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the carboy crate to which thisinvention relates.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II--II of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III of Figure 2without the segregator.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV of Figure 3.

Construction As shown in the above mentioned illustrations, the carboycrate Iii is comprised of a pair of side walls II and I2, a pair of endwalls I3 and I 4, a removable top I5 and a fixed bottom It. The saidside walls and end walls are preferably, but not necessarily, fabricatedfrom two channel shaped pieces of laminated wood I! and I8 (Figure 2)Whose corresponding ends 2| and side Walls 22, and 26 and 2'! abut andare secured to each other approximately along the vertical center lineof the end walls I3 and I l. The channel shaped wall members i? and I8are so shaped that when their corresponding ends abut, as aforesaid, aclosure having a substantially rectangular, horizontal cross-section iscreated.

The abutting ends 2i and 22 of the channel shaped members I! and 18,respectively, which constitute a part of the end wall l3 (Figures 2 and4) are secured to each other by means of both a feather joint 23 and alapping strip 2 A suitable glue may be used to secure the feather 25 andthe lapping strip 24 to the abutting ends 2i and 22. The abutting ends26 and 2'! in the end wall I 4 may be fastened to each other insubstantially the same manner above described with respect to the ends2! and 22. The chanel shaped members ll and it are preferably formed, ina conventional manner well known to the art, so that the corners betweenthe flanges and the webs of the respective channel members are rounding.

The bottom I6 (Figure 3) is preferably flush with the lower edges of theend walls and side walls and may be secured thereto as by means of glue,screws or nails. The removable top I5, which is recessed downwardly fromthe upper edges of the said side walls and end walls, is supported withrespect thereto by means of wooden blocks 28 which are secured in ahorizontal position, as by gluing or nailing, to the inside surfaces ofsaid side Walls and end walls.

A pair of slots 30 and M are provided in the Ii and I2, respectively,near and parallel with the upper edges thereof. The said slots arepositioned directly opposite each other and just above the upper surface32 (Figure 3) of the top I5 when said top is resting on the blocks 28.

A look bar 33 (Fi ure 1) is pivotally secured by means of the bolt 34upon the top upper surface 32 at a point thereon approximately midwaybetween and on a line between the centers of the said slots 30 and iii.The lock bar 33 is of such length that its opposite extremities mayslidably engage the slots 36 and SI when said bar is pivoted into aposition substantially perpendicular to the said side walls II and I2.The lock bar 33 is preferably, but not necessarily, bowed upwardly atits extremities away from the top upper surface 32. Thus, the saidupwardly bowed extremities must be urged downwardly to engage the slots30 and 3| and there--.

3 by tend to hold the top [5 firmly against the wooden blocks 28.

Four short legs 35, two of which are shown in Figure 3, are secured tothe lower surface 33 of the bottom IE by any suitable means, such asglue or nails, one leg near each corner of said bottom. The saidlegs 35are so positioned with respect to the side walls and end walls that whenone of two or more identical carboy crates I0 is placed on top of eachother, the legs 35 of the top crate will be snugly received within therecess 37 defined by the upper surface 32 of the recessed top and theupper edges of the side walls and end walls, thereby preventing sidewaysmovement of one crate with respectto the other. A pair of hand openings38 are provided in each end wall near the upper edge thereof forgripping and lifting the carboy crate l0.

A segregator 39, which may also be fabricated from laminated wood, andwhich may be made with as many compartments as required or desired, isremovably and slidably placed within the V crate 10.

It will be recognized that since laminated wood is stronger by weightthan sheet metal for this type of application and is much more durableboth to weather and rough treatment than either metal or ordinary woodunder these conditions, greater strength and durability may be obtainedfrom a carboy crate fabricated from laminated wood than can be obtainedfrom a crate made of conventional wood or sheet metal, with no materialincrease in cost. Furthermore, the crate if) can be made adaptable tovarious sizes of carboy bottles 4| (Figure 2) by simply changing thesize of the removable segregator 39.

A carboy crat of the type described and disclosed herein not onlyprevents damage to bottles contained therein but also prevents theescape of,

and damage by, any fluid which may be spilled ations or modificationswhich do not depart from 7 the scope of the invention unlessspecifically stated to the contrary in the hereinafter appended claims.

I claim:

I l. A laminated, wooden carboy crate, the corn-= bination comprising: apair of U-shaped, laminated, wooden side members, said side membersbeing rigidly secured together in abutting relation iii with each otheralong a vertical plane; said side members together forming aquadrangular, vertical tube; each of said side members being anintegral, preformed unit; a lower closure member seated within andsecured to said tube adjacent its lower end; stops mounted to said sidemembers adjacent the upper end of said tube and projecting inwardly ofsaid tube; a cover receivable into said tube and removably seated onsaid stops; detachable means for securing said cover to said sidemembers.

2. A laminated, wooden carboy crate, the combination comprising: a pairof U-shaped, laminated, wooden side members; said side members 'beingrigidly secured together in abutting relation with each other along avertical plane; said side members together forming a quadrangular,vertical tube; each of said side members being an integral, preformedunit; a lower closure member seated within and secured to said tubeadjacent its lower end; stops mounted to said side members adjacent theupper end of said tube'and projecting inwardly of said tube; a coverreceivable into said tube and removably seated on said stops; detachablemeans for securing said cover to said side members; said side membersand said cover together defining a recess between said cover and theupper end of said tube; legs on said lower closure member extendingbeyond the lower end of said tube a distance less than the depth of saidrecess whereby the lower end of the sid members of an upper crate willrest upon the upper end of the side members of a lower crate withoutcontact between the legs of the upper crate and the cover of the lowercrate when said crates are stacked in a vertical tier.

JAMES R. WALLACE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain Apr. 13, 1922

